Following the recent ETH performance: Is the time of the Altcoins finally here?

The latest plunge in the price of Bitcoin inevitably led to a similar drop across most of the major altcoins. However, to say that this is indicative of a general slump in the value of crypto would be an oversimplification of what is happening in the markets. If you look only at US pairings, then the downward trend is understandable for all to see, but when you start examining crypto pairs, a new story begins to emerge.

Ethereum on the rise

Since bottoming out in early September, Ripple has risen 27 percent against Bitcoin, and Stellar has gained 29 percent. However, it is the ETH/BTC pair that is raising eyebrows, with a value gain of 32 percent over the same period.

Practically all of the key commentators agree that Bitcoin is heading for a bull market again over the coming weeks. History has shown that when Bitcoin rises, so do altcoins. However, the intriguing factor is that when Bitcoin adopts slow but steady upward movement, it is often outperformed by altcoins.

Time to focus on altcoins?

The above two factors are taken in combination indeed suggest that traders and investors need to factor altcoins into their thinking. But what does this mean for those everyday amateur traders using platforms like Bitcoin Revolution to manage their Forex and crypto trading activities? To answer that question, it is worth taking a step back and looking at the market as a whole.

It’s easy to dismiss altcoins as so much background noise, especially when you see statistics that there are thousands of them out there. However, when you rule out the dead-in-the-water ones and the centralized privately maintained ones and the ones that are operating at minuscule levels, you can soon whittle it down to around 20 altcoins that are meaningful. When you dovetail that against a global Forex market that consists of 180 fiat currencies, that doesn’t seem such a significant number.

The key to any successful portfolio is diversity. Compare crypto with precious metals, and while Bitcoin might be the equivalent of gold, any canny investor will tell you it makes sense to make room for some silver, palladium, and others in your portfolio.

Ether 2.0 could change things further

Of all the altcoins, however, Ether is the one that should be grabbing the attention of crypto traders. Not just because it is the next largest in terms of market cap after Bitcoin, nor yet because it is performing so well against the more established digital currency. But mostly because of what is coming at the beginning of next year.

Ether 2.0 is scheduled for launch at some point in January 2020. This could prove to be the biggest gamechanger yet for the altcoin market, and will almost certainly trigger an upward movement. At the very least, expect the price to rise in the run-up to launch, with traders effectively buying the rumor and then selling the news post-launch.

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